We construct our experience as sports fans around a series of elements — specific memories, mottoes, players, regional identity. The sum of all this is often referred to as the brand experience, and there are few spheres in American culture where that phenomenon resonates greater than in sports. When it comes to brand awareness, visual representation is vital to the way we relate and respond to certain teams. There’s a reason the Yankees, Steelers, Celtics and Canadiens haven’t futzed around with their logos too much over the years. As storied franchises, they’re intent on evoking purity and nostalgia as key components of their brand, which makes a lot of sense because these teams have enjoyed a lot of success.

1978-82: Fear the Creamsicle

Since they moved west from Buffalo in 1978, the Clippers haven’t dabbled too much in branding exercises. For their first few seasons in San Diego, the Clippers sported a smart, delightfully abstract motif of three large white masts before a setting orange sun. This is the image we fondly know as the retro or vintage Clippers logo. When the league was aggressively promoting its Hardwood Classics line a few years back, we saw quite a bit of the sky blue and creamsicle orange.

Four seasons after relocating to San Diego, the Clippers unveiled the breezy royal blue script superimposed over a red-seamed basketball, the logo they’ve essentially had as their primary badge for the past 28 years. Apart from swapping Los Angeles for San Diego, the Clippers have made small tweaks over the years and are rumored to be taking another stab at updating the logo, but with only negligible changes. For an organization that seeks to carve out an identity in a crowded market it shares with the Lakers, it’s curious that the Clippers haven’t devoted a little more attention to brand aesthetics. The most distinguishing feature of the current Clippers logo might be its resemblance to the Lakers’ logo.

The Clippers will spend much of the offseason rebranding themselves in a couple of important areas. The team will hire a new head coach for the first time in seven years. It will likely welcome another Top 10 draft pick, possibly a top tier free agent, a new supporting cast and, most important, will promote Blake Griffin as the face of the franchise. If ever there was a moment to introduce a new emblematic image for the organization, this is it.

Rolling out a new logo, uniforms and possibly a new color scheme comes at a great expense. Commissioning new graphics work is costly, to say nothing of the zillions of places — facades, home courts, equipment — the new image would need to replace the old. As alluring as we imagine a fresh design to be, there’s also no guarantee that the effort would be successful. We live in an era when technology and connectivity has made visual images present everywhere. It’s hard to be original when virtually every creative idea is seemingly informed by something that preceded it. On the flip side, that technology and accessibility mean there are more people than ever who have the talent and capacity to share their creative vision with the world.

If you’re one of those people, what does a new Clippers logo look like in your imagination? Would you retain the current red and blue? Would you pay homage to the team’s vintage logo? Should the sky blue the team wore in Buffalo and San Diego make a comeback? Should a new logo incorporate Los Angeles into the motif? Is it important that a less recognizable brand like the Clippers convey “basketball” in its image so that people know the Clippers aren’t a personal hygiene product? Should the logo be cutting-edge or should it conjure up the timelessness of the game?

Please send your submissions to clipperblog -at – gmail.com and we’ll post a range of ideas prior to the NBA Draft Lottery on May 18. If you’d like to toy with home and away unis, we’d love to see that too!

Make the new jerseys almost like the jerseys of the buffalo braves!but with blue brightest and a dark red!! and change the logo, we need an new image, we need it!!!
I’m sorry for the english, i live in italy.

Josh

Your English is very good. Better than most people who post. Seriously.

Massimo

Wow, another Italian clippers fan! I thought I was the only one!

Qlippers

I like the Buffalo Braves colors, I wonder if this is a complete new design or just a tweak

And Kevin, no offense, but the cost comes in legal to make sure the look isn’t copyrighted or trademarked somewhere else. The cost in actually commissioning the design or logo is not that expensive.

Laknights

But you have to change everything…from simple stationary to images on the screen at the game. A lot of little things you wouldn’t think of.

VH

Copyright and trademark reports are like $1000 and it probably takes an attorney two hours to review the report and make a determination. Thats not exactly breaking the bank.

Hiretarktheshark.com

The logo should be a sinking ship or a player on crutches or a coach shrugging his shoulders with question marks over his head.

SamMays

That’s it… A peg-legged captain on a sinking ship… Get them both into one logo…

JM

I think a broken compass would be simpler and more apropos.

mario1p

if we had new jerseys we should make the colors either dark red or burgendy and black we need a tough new look sending somewhat of a mesage to teams that the clippers are forreals on starting over and fresh to go to the top

Newport Clipper

The Angels and the Ducks made very successful changes in recent years. The Big A is now a “sea of red” when the Angels play, and the Ducks now look like a real team (instead of a bunch of Disney clowns).

I wouldn’t mind seeing the letters “L. A.” on the Clippers jerseys (much like the Suns use PHX or the Hawks use ATL). I wouldn’t mind adding a star or two to the logo (to capitalize on the Hollywood mentality here). I think a splash of black, and then modify the shades of red and blue, would be cool.

The Padres went from what Steve Garvey once called a “taco” (brown, yellow, and orange) to navy and “sand” as their primary colors (to identify with the beach). We could have “ocean blue” and orange (to represent the sun in So Cal)…maybe bring back the Clipper ship, add a blue line to represent the ocean or something…no reason why we can’t sell So Cal and L. A. as the home of the sun, the beach, the stars, and boating (Clipper ship), and tie it all in to one clean logo.

Hooch20

I really like the UCONN ond Ole Miss uniforms and color scheme. They use a darker red and blue, along with white and grey. They both have white home, navy road, and grey 3rd jerseys.

Laknights

Bolder, brighter and simpler. As noted above LA is a brand itself (no wonder Moreno wants to keep Los Angeles in the Angels’ name, he understands); They can keep it short and sweet, just LA or LAC.

NRM

I think the logo should be dirty and gritty looking, as to give the team a battle ready mentality. While the Lakers embody celebrity and sunshine, the clippers should embrace anger, rebelliousness and swag.

Shawn H.

Yeah, the Lakers are “Team Hollywood”…the Clippers should be more representative of the working-class people of the rest of Los Angeles and Southern California. The Clippers have spent their entire 26 years right in the heart of the city of L.A., while the Lakers played 32 of their 50 years here in the “lovely” suburb of Inglewood.

JJ

As a designer, a part of me is excited to see this type of discussion, or “contest”. But also, I see this as another display of ignorance, from the public, towards my industry.

Creating a quality branding scheme for a high-profile sports team can be an expensive endeavor, if one wants it done right. And no, I’m not talking about re-printing the stationary.

It’s what separates a quality design job (see: Houston Rockets rebranding) from a poorly executed one (see: Oklahoma City branding).

Personally, I won’t be taking part in this particular call-for-action, but I’ll enjoy watching what is created as long as it’s in the name of fun. And that it is understood as being nothing more. Best of luck.

http://www.clipperblog.com Kevin Arnovitz

JJ:

Your point is well-taken. Graphic design is a serious craft and doing it well requires a significant amount of labor and expertise, and those things have real monetary value.

This solicitation for ideas is meant to be a fun exercise. Those who don’t have the time to go whole hog, a conceptual rendering would still be fun to see. That’s the spirit of this contest: Fun. There was no intention to suggest that anyone can just create an image from scratch or to denigrate the work of professional designers.

Mandrew

As a graphic designer as well, I agree with JJ that our field is definitely overlooked (along with so many other professions: best e.g. teachers).

And thank you, KA for acknowledging that this is to be done in pure fun. I never thought that this call for submissions was done for anything more than folly. With that in mind, I, personally, will go the whole 9 and do this exercise and try to create something awesome that I feel represents my team. This is my version of “fan fiction.”

That being said, I wouldn’t expect everybody to like my work and would like as much criticism as possible about it. I’m really looking forward to this. Thanks, KA for coming up with this fun exercise.

http://www.twitter.com/HitFixGregory jgroove

Not sure I agree with your Rockets vs. OKC take completely. The OKC logo might look rushed, but it’s a great color combo (especially in context of the uniforms). And even with their large Chinese audience, the Rockets made a mistake going too far in that direction with their current look. Granted, anything was better than the horrible mid-80’s design which looked like kids pajamas, but I would say the Raptors unis are a much better example of smart design work this decade.

JJ

Kevin Arnovitz:
Thanks for your reply and understanding.

jgroove:
Design (including logo/branding) can be a very subjective topic. So, I imagine there are some people who favor the OKC Thunder look. Though I think the consensus is that it’s a poor effort. I guess their color scheme is the only thing that is remotely working, though it’s not too unique. But, it’s hard to debate that orange and blue aren’t complementary colors.

This may be a sore topic for some, but I’d prefer their previous Sonics branding.

Looking at the current NBA teams’ branding, “green” is now an underused color. Besides the Celtics and Bucks, no other team makes it a primary color of their palette. Maybe a blue-green for the Clippers would be an eye-grabbing move.

Bongstradamus

The Thunder chose great colors, but the logo isnt really a logo. It doesnt communicate anything other than their name. Its basically text. They are building a whole franchise from scratch.

The Sonics had a great identity, it was kind of a shame that they bought the team and killed the brand, it was one of the most recognizable in the league and was really well designed to begin with. It alone probably added $100m to the cost of the franchise.

The Wizards are one of those teams where you are like….huh? What the heck is that weird dude supposed to be? It does a very poor job of communicating anything really. You dont want to model a redesign/rebrand after the Wiz.

The Charlotte brand and ID has been pretty good. I especially love the alternate racing uniforms they have which embraces a part of their community. Itll be interesting to see how it continues to shape up now that “THE BRAND” himself is the owner. Maybe theyll have a logo just as iconic as the Jumpman hmself.

I think the Heat logo and colors are spot on. The flaming ball looks a little stupid on occassion but everything seem to work. It communicates what it is supposed to and is aesthetically pleasing.

The Bulls logo and brand is also very good, or maybe i just like red and black a lot. Its a totally recognizable icon and has endured through the decades.

The Pacers could use an overhaul. Im solely talking about design of course, but I guess that could extend to many other subjects actually related to basketball.

The Kings is a good design job as well. The crown, the purple (color of royalty) and silver. It communicates what it needs to, sticks with allusions and metaphors based off the name and looks good on the court.

To be honest there really arent that many teams that have great design. But theyve worked because we are fans and we see these images in our heads and on TV 82+ games a year. Itd probably be harder to design a logo as a fan than if you were just an outside agency.

As far as costs for a rebrand, sure they are high, but the cost to commission the actual work is a drop in the bucket compared to legal and all the costs to reprint everything. Its not an exercise you do half-cocked and you should ALWAYS pay the premium for good creative since it figures to be one of the smallest costs of the actual rebranding process.

All energy should be put into building a new team. Logos are nice but will they really help us win games? Also JJ, you come off sounding pretty arrogant.

http://www.versantewheels.com era

I dont know but ireally like the coors of the Oregon Ducks, If we are going to change the colors. That Black with Green and Yellow look really good.. And if we are not we need to change the logo and instead of white maybe we need to add some Gray, Navy Blue and Dark Red and Grey. Has anybody really looked at the OL’ Miss uniforms

http://Lou Lou

JJ
BB Fans have the luxury to be “ignorants” towards “your industry.” A change of logo is not worth to spend so much time and money. Wins is what it matters like CG mentioned. The Rays(baseball) have become more popular now because they started winning games no because they changed the nickname and logo, they used to be the Devil Rays.

JJ

Clipper George:
I tried to thoughtfully explain my opinion on the matter. If I came off as arrogant, I apologize. That certainly wasn’t my intent.

Lou:
I believe this discussion is about designing a new Clippers logo, and not about debating the importance of a team’s branding versus their win/loss standings. Or was this just a personal shot at me? Regardless, I agree with you. Wins are most important.

Maxwell

The home jerseys should be baby blue and not include the word ‘Clippers’ anywhere. On the front, in bold, red lettering, they should instead sit the city’s name, proudly and defiantly.

http://Lou Lou

Nothing personal JJ, thank you for your post enlightening us about the cost of a new design. We are in the same boat (clipper ship) on this.

Sterling will get something that will sell. A pot leaf would probably sell the most hats and jerseys, but I doubt the league will go for that. Maybe jamaican colors would sell a lot.

Rich

My suggestion is to go a whole new route a la Bill Simmons – rename the Clippers the “Hollywood Knights”. Colors should be black/grey and white, retro lettering similar to Georgetown, the whole bit.

VH

Can we hire Bill as the VP of Common Sense while we are at it? Given the length of time it is taking to hire a new coach with the draft lottery and free agents looming I am starting to think we need one in-house.

clipper george

JJ Thanks for the reply. The apology was not necessary. I agree with you about the “Rays”. It’s going to be an interesting and hopefully “fun” next two months.

kastanza

the logo has to stay white. because don’t forget that sterling won’t pay for anything that’s not white.

http://AndrewLeon.com Andrew Leon

badum CHA

TNT57

It should be a deflated basketball with a flaming season ticket on the ground beside it.

http://www.firedunleavy.com FD

You’re missing the crutches though.

clippafan4life

we have an ugly logo but its cool I say we roll with it and make it uglier and play up the fact that we are outcasts of the nba. im thinking black and neon green letters and some white like that misfits logo or swamp thing logo. I like the giant LA letters but the dodgers already do that. we should put an old world ship with some kinda giant squid or sea monster attacking it and then we could make the squid our mascot. Write Los Angeles in Old English lettering OG Style and there you have the best logo ever.

clippafan4life

we have an ugly logo but its cool I say we roll with it and make it uglier and play up the fact that we are outcasts of the nba. im thinking black and neon green letters and some white like that misfits logo or swamp thing logo. I like the giant LA letters but the dodgers already do that. we should put an old world ship with some kinda giant squid or sea monster attacking it and then we could make the squid our mascot. Write Los Angeles in Old English lettering OG Style and there you have the best logo ever.

Newtybar

I like the Hollywood Knights suggestion

Badwater

Sterling loves to daily fill the local paper with ads that feature his smiling face. Make that the new logo.

http://Lou Lou

After watching some of playoff games lately, the Clippers are not worse than the Hawks, Spurs, Nuggets, etc. Cleveland is playing like the Clippers without Camby. Nicks Fans are rooting for Boston….

Also…I was looking into Wins Produced as a metric last night–interesting stuff–the Clippers had the most unbalanced wins produced line of anyone in 2008-09, with marcus camby producing 12.4 and the next highest player (ej) producing 3.8. I couldn’t find WP for the 2009-10 season…if anyone knows a site that uses this stat I’d love to see it. Definitely missing Camby. http://www.wagesofwins.com/LAClippers0809.html

http://fanaticteeshop.com Roy

I think I like the orange in the calssic clippers logo but i think it needs to be a little more bold. So instead of the light blue, what about a deep navy blue as the primary color along with orange as a secondary. Black was overused recently with most teams adopting the black jersey look for a few seasons.

TNT57

As a true sign of commitment I think the team should play without jerseys next year and have the logo and name tattooed on their chests and backs. Now that would make a statement!

clippafan4life

noice!

pipedreams

Hey, as long as we’re re-branding — why not change the name of the team? What does “Clippers” mean to anybody — especially as those ships never made port here,I don’t think. However, there are a lot of hair stylists who should be flocking to our name.

Shawn H.

Might as well re-name them as the Los Angeles Buffoons, with Donald Sterling’s head superimposed on a basketball. Or, why not pay homage to the Three Stooges by re-naming the team “The Los Angeles Stooges”, with a three-headed logo of Sterling, Roeser, and Olshey/Coach to be Named Later.

http://www.firedunleavy.com FD

Yeah, the name is bad. ‘The Lebrons’ sounds better. Along with picking the coach/GM, he should pick the logo and name.